120 



late-keeping varieties can be withdrawn from common storage 

 in the winter and shipped to Europe and arrive in satisfactory 

 condition. This export may be carried out in common holds 

 in vessels, providing they have good ventilation. These late- 

 keeping varieties stored in cold storage may be exported in 

 refrigerated shipping compartments as late as the middle or 

 last of May and give satisfactory returns on the foreign market. 



Eighth, storage is one of the most important influences in 

 raising the standard of American orcharding. There is an 

 increasing demand on the part of the consumer for fruit of a 

 higher quality, of better appearance, and of better physical 

 condition. The old-fashioned method of handling the apple 

 crop when the fruit was roughly handled, poorly packed and 

 improperly preserved will not satisfy the present-day con- 

 sumer. Poorly grown fruit or improperly handled fruit does 

 not keep well in storage and therefore is not profitable. 



There are two main types of fruit storage, — those using 

 some mechanical means of lowering the temperature below 

 that of the outside air, called cold storage, and those depend- 

 ing upon temperatures secured from atmospheric changes and 

 called cool or common storage. The first class -may be sub- 

 divided into those using ammonia refrigeration and those using 

 ice. The second class embraces many different types of building, 

 and there are also pits and trenches which embody the same 

 general principles and are constructed to suit given conditions. 



Few producers in ]\Iassachusetts are handling sufiicient 

 quantities to warrant the ownership of mechanically cooled 

 storages. There are some districts where large production by 

 closely grouped farms offers a field for the promotion of co- 

 operatively owned cold-storage plants, but this chapter is in- 

 tended for those interested in common storage and no attempt 

 will be made to discuss refrigerated storage. 



Six fundamentals must be kept in mind in constructing an 

 apple storage: — 



1. Maintenance of low temperatures. 



2. Protection from frost. 



3. Protection from heating. 



4. Protection from changes in temperature. 



5. Provision for sufficient moisture. 



6. Avoidance of a wet and stagnant atmosphere. 



